Love and Inferiority

Had she been standing there, frozen in time? A deep voice pierced her ears.

"Were you going to throw it away?"

He was referring to the handkerchief. Rosé snapped out of her trance, startled, and stammered.

"Ah, no. It's not for throwing away."

Her hand, which had been hesitating for a while, slowly reached for the handkerchief. In the meantime, her heart pounded loudly, making its presence felt.

"Th-thank you... Duke."

Unable to muster the courage to look him in the eye, she bowed her head and expressed her gratitude.

Her trembling fingers brushed against Clayton's hand through the thin fabric.

It was just a brief contact between their fingers, separated by the thin fabric, yet her face flushed with heat.

Just a short while ago, he was a man whose name alone terrified her. She couldn't even understand how her attitude had changed so completely.

"Calm down, first."

She steadied her mind and lifted her gaze, thinking that she should try to engage in a normal conversation.

As if he had been waiting for it, the man smiled gently, his eyes narrowing.

"He smiled at me...!"

Her heart fluttered as if she had been rewarded for her feelings. Just as she was about to return his smile, the corners of her eyes lifted.

"Dahlia."

The man called another woman's name in a soft voice, and at the same time, Rosé felt as if a bucket of cold water had been thrown on her, snapping her back to reality.

Yes. The man had another woman. Clayton casually passed by Rosé, as if he had momentarily forgotten about her.

Behind her, the sound of rustling bushes followed by a familiar voice reached her ears.

"How did the Duke end up here...?"

"I was supposed to meet the Landrophil Marquis today."

"Ah..."

"When does the tea party end? We could go back together..."

"Rosé."

Dahlia recalled the fact the Marchioness had casually mentioned earlier, letting out a soft exhale.

But right now, there was something more important to Dahlia than Clayton, so she moved past him and walked forward.

As Dahlia neared Rosé, she called her name once again.

"Rosé. Are you okay?"

At Dahlia's concerned voice, Rosé slowly turned around.

"Yes, Madam. I'm fine."

"Rosé..."

Dahlia seemed to sense Rosé's effort to force a smile, and just as she was about to grab Rosé's hand,

Rosé, stepping back, spoke to Dahlia.

"I'm not feeling well today. I think I should return to the mansion now. Goodbye..."

"Rosé...!"

Dahlia called her name, but Rosé quickly left, as if trying to escape from reality.

* * *

Leaving the party without even seeking the host's permission was a major breach of etiquette, but to Rosé, such manners no longer mattered.

The moment Rosé left the forest where Clayton and Dahlia were, she got into her family's carriage, her face darkening.

When she had just left Hertz Mansion, the sun was high in the sky, but soon it began to set, casting the sky in an orange hue.

With a stiff expression, she stared at the slowly darkening sky. Before long, the carriage carrying Rosé arrived at Hertz Mansion.

The butler greeted Rosé warmly, as if he had been waiting for her to get off the carriage.

"Miss, you've arrived. How was the party?"

Rosé had been excited about the social gathering since the morning, so the butler asked her eagerly, his eyes full of expectation.

However, Rosé answered dryly, as if she had no strength to engage, and quickly made her way upstairs to her room.

"I'll talk about it later. I just want to rest now."

As soon as she entered her room, she collapsed onto the sofa. The room was dark, with no lights on.

As the carriage had taken her to this room, the events from earlier kept swirling in her mind.

Rosé unfolded the handkerchief she had been holding.

The once-white handkerchief had dirt smudges from where it had fallen on the ground, but somehow it didn't feel dirty. Instead...

Rosé pressed the handkerchief to her nose.

"It smells like him..."

The handkerchief carried a cool, refreshing scent of the forest.

It seemed to carry the kind of scent that made you feel excited and happy, just being near him.

Rosé buried her nose in the handkerchief, taking a deep breath, as though she wanted to imprint that scent in her mind.

Then, the smile of the Duke, which had been on his face just moments ago, appeared in her mind. But...

"He wasn't smiling at me."

The owner of that smile was someone else. Suddenly, Dahlia's face appeared in her mind, and Rosé furrowed her brow. At the same time, she recalled everything that had happened at the tea party.

The treatment of Dahlia and herself at the tea party had been so different.

While Dahlia sat in the best seat, Rosé had been seated in the worst.

It clearly showed their positions in society.

Rosé recalled the conversation she had had with Dahlia a few days ago, where Dahlia said they were now friends.

"From the beginning, I could never be friends with the Duchess..."

The gap between them was so vast that it wasn't even a distance that could be bridged by reaching out a hand.

Dahlia was welcomed by everyone, unlike Rosé, and everyone liked her.

"I haven't done anything..."

Just by being named Rosé Hertz, she was hated by everyone. It felt so unfair and frustrating.

"Some people receive such treatment just by being the Duke's wife, but why not me...?"

Thinking back, it was Dahlia who had encouraged her to attend the party in the first place.

"If the Duchess hadn't encouraged me, I wouldn't have faced such humiliation."

It had been a gathering she never intended to attend. But with Dahlia's encouragement, she had gathered the courage to go, only to face such humiliation. The arrow of blame shifted.

Looking back, if Dahlia hadn't been the Duke's wife, she would never have received such treatment.

Now, after her marriage, Dahlia had risen in status, higher than Rosé's, but originally, they could never have sat together.

The Molden Barony, with no wealth or reputation, could never have stood on the same level as the Hertz Count family, which boasted a long history and immense wealth.

"Lloyd once told me that the two of them had a contract marriage."

It had long been whispered among the servants that the Duke, wanting to end the Seyer line, had entered into a contract marriage with Dahlia Molden, known as the Stone Maiden.

But how had the two, who were supposed to have a contract marriage, suddenly become so close?

As Rosé pondered the reason, something suddenly clicked in her mind, and she raised her head.

"It's because he drank the Duchess's blood..."

He had originally drunk Lloyd's blood, but surely that wasn't enough to satisfy him, so he must have drunk his wife's blood. That must have been when their hearts started to align.

As the thought crossed her mind, Rosé's mood sank even further.

If that was true, the Duchess's position could have originally been hers. The feeling of injustice overwhelmed her.

Once again, the face of Duke Seyer flashed through her mind.

"If I had given my blood to the Duke instead of Lloyd..."

"It could have been mine."

It angered her that the man who had first made her heart flutter was already the Duchess's.

An uncontrollable irritation surged, and her head felt hot. If only she could turn back time.

"And if I..."

Rosé was already consumed by her fantasies, reflecting on the past that had passed her by, and she began to direct all her anger and blame towards Dahlia.

As if it had sensed its owner's return, the cat, just waking from sleep, approached Rosé and rubbed its face against her calf.

The soft sensation against her leg made Rosé lower her head.

It was the cat Dahlia had asked Lloyd to get for her. Normally, she would have found it cute and hugged it, but today, the moment she saw the cat, Dahlia came to mind.

And so, she felt discomfort at the fact that it was rubbing against her leg, pushing the cat away with a sharp kick.

"Go away!"

Startled by the sudden attack, the cat yelped and began crying as if hurt.

Surprised by the cat's cries, Rosé realized what she had done and flinched.

"What have I just done...?"

It was as if cold water had been thrown over her, and her mind cleared. She realized how ugly the thoughts she had just been entertaining were and shuddered.

"I must be crazy. Why am I blaming the innocent Duchess...?"

She was, after all, a benefactor of the Hertz family. Without Dahlia, she would have spent the rest of her life as a commoner, not as the Hertz heiress.

Yet, forgetting her gratitude, she entertained such vile thoughts.

Though it was only for a moment, the thought of doing something wrong against her had made her feel repulsed.

"Get a grip. The Duchess is a good person."

Dahlia had put the party aside and came to find her because she was worried about Rosé. Blaming such a kind person was wrong.

Rosé approached the whining cat, gathered it in her arms, and whispered quietly.

"I'm sorry."

"I won't have such bad thoughts again."